Summer by the Sea | T+L Golf

Summer by the Sea | T+L Golf

By
M. Brandon Wall
July 22, 2009

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See the surf and smell the salt air at these seductive courses and resorts

California

Place

Island Hotel Newport Beach, Newport Beach

The Deal

Stay and Play: one night in a room with a private balcony; two rounds on the Ocean North or the Ocean South at Pelican Hill, both of which reopened late last year after upgrades by Tom Fazio (Pelican Hill’s resort opens in the fall)

The Golf

Draped over four hundred acres of wavy coastline, these courses feature wide fairways and big greens. A new clubhouse opened last fall, new turf was planted on every hole, and thousands of shrubs were relocated to open up views of the Pacific.

Price*

From $735 per night, available through December 21

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Place

San Ysidro Ranch, Santa Barbara

The Deal

Coastal Golf: two nights in a restored cottage or junior suite with a private deck and hot tub; one round per person at Sandpiper Golf Club, Rancho San Marcos or the private Montecito Country Club; daily in-room breakfast

The Golf

Sandpiper is at its best along the Pacific, notably at the par-three eleventh, which drops to the beach. The sea and mountains set the scene at Montecito, and Rancho San Marcos, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. course renovated last year, peers over the valley.

Price*

From $1,650 per room, available through December 18

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Hawaii

Place

Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa, Koloa

The Deal

Explore: one night in a room with a private lanai and views of the ocean, garden or mountains; one round per person at Poipu Bay Golf Course, former home of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf; breakfast buffet for two

The Golf

The trade winds on Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s Poipu Bay, on cliffs eighty feet above the ocean, can make ball control a challenge. The setting—with humpback whales, monk seals, sea turtles and centuries-old places of worship—adds welcome distraction.

Price*

$680–$1,060 per night, available through December 30

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Maine

Place

Samoset Resort, Rockport

The Deal

Tee by the Sea: one night in a room with a balcony or terrace overlooking the Atlantic or the golf course; unlimited golf for two, with cart, on the resort’s recently reconditioned course; one lunch per person in the clubhouse grill

The Golf

The course, set on rocky coastline that includes the requisite lighthouse, typifies seaside New England golf. At the 227-yard par-three third, you must launch your tee shot over waves to a double green, and the beautiful 503-yard par-five fourth clings to the shore.

Price*

From $378 per night, available through October 31

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South Carolina

Place

Palmetto Dunes Resort, Hilton Head Island

The Deal

Summer Golf & Spa: four nights in a two-bedroom resort villa; two rounds per person on the Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course, George Fazio Course or Arthur Hills Course; one-hour private lesson and one massage per person

The Golf

The Hills course sits on steadily surging dunes and finishes superbly; the Fazio has long par fours and is perhaps the truest test here; and the Jones plays right to the Atlantic at the par-five tenth, one of only two oceanfront holes on Hilton Head Island.

Price*

From $169 per person per night for four people, through September 30

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Place

Wild Dunes Resort, Charleston

The Deal

Fazio Sampler: two nights in the inn, the hotel, or a villa or home, all on the Isle of Palms; one round per person on either of two early-career Tom Fazio courses, the Links (his first solo design) or the Harbor; daily breakfast

The Golf

Due to coastal erosion, the Links’ eighteenth has been temporarily shortened from a par five to a par three, but it’s still a challenging oceanfront closer. The Harbor has water or marsh on most holes, many of which hop from landform to landform.

Price*

From $450 per night, two-night minimum, available through August 31

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Canada

Place

Keltic Lodge Resort & Spa, Nova Scotia

The Deal

Tee by the Sea: one night in the inn, in a two- or four-bedroom cottage, or in the lodge, set atop a cliff over the Atlantic; one round per person at Highlands Links, one of Stanley Thompson’s best designs; daily breakfast

The Golf

The influence of Scotland is everywhere on the out-and-back Highlands Links: in design elements, in hole names, in the seaside environs. Hole four, Heich O’ Fash, is a textbook short two-shotter, and the ninth is an adaptation of the Alps hole at Prestwick.

Price*

From $142 per person until July 31, $225 until August 31, and $310 until October 20

Contact

Place

Rodd Crowbush Golf & Beach Resort, Prince Edward Island

The Deal

Birdies & Backrubs: two nights in a room with a balcony, most offering views of the golf course and the north shore; two rounds per couple at the Links at Crowbush Cove; two thirty-minute aromatic massages per couple

The Golf

Canadian course architect Thomas McBroom laid out the Links at Crowbush Cove among the dunes on the north shore of Prince Edward Island. Whitecaps dot the backdrop on the approach to fifteen, and both the eighth and sixteenth abut the beach.